CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

stefuel

Youz guy's with your fancy-ass modded projectors and blended setups with just as fancy high end sound systems don't have $hit till you have THX certified doors. For as little as $1,495.00-$2,495.00 ea. you can bring your theater to new heights. And they weigh as little as 200lbs ea. Heck, I might just order a dozen Rolling Eyes

I couldn't help it. I saw this add over at AVS and laughed sooo hard I just about pissed myself dry Laughing

CRT_Ben · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern Virginia

To be fair, if you have a moderately sound-proofed HT (two layers of 1/2-5/8 drywall w/Green Glue or similar), and have a lightweight interior door, it's probably a serious weak link in the chain. Of course, it's not like a $$$$ "THX Certified Door" is necessary at all, that's a total ripoff...

Now you've got me thinking though, who wants a heavy storm door leading to their HT, so how to make an interior door better? First off I think I'll put weatherstripping around my door and a threshold with stripping also...free air movement around the door is just asking to kill your STC. That will take care of the high frequencies. How to get the necessary mass to stop low frequencies though? Honestly, the best idea I've come up with so far (about 5 minutes of thinking) is to cut a hole in the top edge of the door and fill the whole damn thing with sand Mr. Green

**kal** · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:57 am Post subject:

Yup. Forget the THX certification for a moment as it really doesn't mean anything, but if you have a really nice isolated theater getting a nice door for it to also keep it all isolated will easily cost you close or over $1000.

Sound is like water- it'll leak through the smallest hole.

Most of us don't care but anyone's who's spend many thousands to create a proper room will understand why $1000 for heavy soundproof door that locks in all directions with good weatherstripping isn't a bad idea.

Kal

lostindiana · Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 Location: Federal Way, WA USA

Are you serious??? HAHAHAH

I though Monster would have got to that one first!

CRT_Ben · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern Virginia

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

I've often wondered, how do you get air into and out of these home theater rooms that are so seriously sealed as to prevent sound from escaping ??

I mean, if you've got a 1000lb door that seals at all sides, and its the only opening to a room that has double layered drywall with green goop in between, how do you get air into and out of the room ??

If you have it hooked up to the rest of the houses HVAC system, you'll just be piping the noise to all other rooms in the house, assuming a forced air HVAC system, of course...right ?

greg_mitch · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5320

Mr. Green · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:40 am Post subject:

Hollow core doors are pretty simple to remove 1 side and glue back on.

You could fill it with spray foam, matress cover foam or just about anything that would deaden sound and put the panel back on and re-hang the door. Then as above use a door sealing kit and door sweep.

zGman · Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 599

Solid core 1 3/4" wood door with an exterior grade weatherstrip frame,
a good one weighs over 80 pounds and when properly fitted and using a
good sealing threshold - you will have great isolation. wholesale cost under $200.

A typical hollow interior door is made with 3/32" plywood over a expanded cardboard core -
it will not have the strength to support 50 pounds of sand, and you will still need weather stripping.

G

stefuel · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:34 am Post subject:

I think those doors come from the same company that sells those supports that hold your speaker wires 16.23747331 inches off the floor for noticable sound improvement Laughing

I find it hard to believe that the cheap SOB's on this forum who hang their projectors from ropes, strings, chains and unistrut, anything but a factory mount, would even consider spending more on a door then they paid for their projector. Laughing

I wonder what doors achase has planned for his 100+ seat home theater?

perisoft · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 2920 Location: Ithaca, NY

My whole HT build costs half that of the door. Wink

NewbieDAN · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:33 pm Post subject:

40mm 'solid core' exterior grade timber door and hardwood frame, with weather strips on all 3 jambs and a rubber 'storm' seal at the threshold to my theatre......it's not THX certified, but does the job!

dturco · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:42 pm Post subject:

Never put sand in or near wood. It will draw moisture in and cause rot.

The best part of the Quiet Door system was the 2 doors with 3 foot air gap to achieve 80 stc. If you have 3 feet of room to spare, then building double walls,and can afford those doors go ahead. It still will not stop frequencies below 32 hz { they do not test below that on any of their charts notice?} and you will feel like you achieved something near nirvana. Very Happy

Just remember to use clothes hangers for the speaker runs for superior harmonics. Rolling Eyes

ecrabb · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject:

Robert A. Hill · Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 182 Location: Simpsonville, SC

I feel so poor when I read about the extent HT enthusiasts will go to in their theaters. With two in college, I feel lucky to be able to afford cigarettes, Jack Daniels, and the mortgage at this point.

I have my theater in my over-the-garage bonus room with no prep other than dark paint and light block on the windows. My old pioneer 6.1 receiver produces sound too loud for me to stand if I want to crank it. Even when I watch action movie, the sound level outside the theater does not bother anyone else in the house. It's not that bad even in the garage. I must have gotten lucky as I would not have spent anymore $$ on soundproofing anyway. I would just turn down the volume.

Tedd · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 156 Location: Ontario

Every time I read one of this type of postings, I wonder if the guy really laughing his head off, is the guy who bought the door with a couple hours of earnings?

ecrabb · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject:

Robert A. Hill · Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 182 Location: Simpsonville, SC

Small (10") sub for very basic LFE which is OK for me It cannot shake the chairs or cause the ceiling fan to swing Smile

I'm not saying that I do not want a better system, I just have other priorities that preclude this. My theater is only used by myself and wife and we love it. We watch movies every weekend that we have time and I get to watch television that she doesn't like on the big screen. For the money, this is great and we love it. I'm just happy as hell that CRT projectors got so affordable. I just cannot imagine having enough disposable income to spend on $10K audio systems and room upgrades, but I can see how It would be great if I could.

ecrabb · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject:

But, you got my point though, right? If you really smoke and drink much Jack, you probably spend in a few years what I spent on my equipment and room. So, it's not that you can't afford the room and equipment, you just choose to spend the money on other... priorities... as you said.

I've probably spent $10,000 on my room and system. Of course, since it started out as framing and I was finishing the space, I probably would have spent $2,000+ just to finish the space to a bare general-use room. So, let's say $8,000 on equipment, furniture and room treatments. Probably not far off. A lot of guys spend that much every few years on golf trips... Or a fishing boat... Or snowmobiling... Or a "weekend" sporty car or something.

I have a middle-class white collar job, and my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so we live on mostly my income. Still, I was able to afford a very nice dedicated HT... because we made it a priority. My wife LOVES watching movies... as much as I do. The HT was my dream, but to be quite honest, she was as thrilled to have the theater as I was. It's our escape. We put the kids in bed, make sure they're asleep and escape to "movie world"... Relax and get lost in a movie for a couple of hours. Even though both my kids are just now getting old enough, we've also watched a lot of movies as a family, so in reality, the money has been very well spent. Hell, some guys spend $10,000 on a fishing boat they use maybe half a dozen times all year. I use my theater at least weekly. I think I racked up about 400 hours in the last year! That's amazing to me because it doesn't seem like we get down there that much. That works out to about 2-3 movies/week and maybe one TV show (LOST). Hey, I'm down to about $50/movie!!! Wink

You're right, though. If it weren't for cheap CRT projectors, I wouldn't have gotten into HT nearly as soon as I did. If it weren't for ebay, I probably wouldn't have gotten into HT at all, as much of my original system came from ebay, was refurb, or was surplus.

SC

Robert A. Hill · Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 182 Location: Simpsonville, SC

SC, I'm with you on the payback a n HT gives all of us. Hell of a good investment of $$$ and time. My wife loves movies and several HDTV series in the theater as much as I do. The only movies we saw for years were Disney Pixar flicks with the kids when they came out on DVD. She never liked the ick factor of dirty movie theaters, the hassle of parking and lines, or the pre-movie commercials. Now we get to watch what we want and when we want. My wife was also a stay at home mom and it was a major priority of ours. Now she is in college with the last of our four boys. We do smoke and drink, but it is a treat for us, not an obsession. Seems like college work is the only obsession around here for the last few years. One day though.......(daydreaming)